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Extra Tall Wheelchair

A wheelchair that is designed for taller than average people will need to have a larger seat height than usual, it would also need to be a longer frame height, and it would also need to have longer footrests. Tall people find it difficult sometimes to find a wheelchair that fits their large body type.

One of the things you can do to accommodate a tall person, is to tweak the footrest legs to the lowest possible setting, this will allow the user enough leg room to make up for the upper wheelchair space. The issue with this is that you can set the footrests so low that any type of sudden change in surface levels, and you could find yourself falling over if your footplates hit the ground at some point.

Seat Height and Wheelchair Adjustments

An alternative to buying a larger wheelchair to accommodate a user’s height is to buy a padded cushion, a very tall cushion to allow the user the room they need to fit their body in the chair comfortably. What this would do is heighten the level where the user is seated, meaning that there is more room below the seat to accommodate their large lower limbs.

One problem with this alternative is that if you were to try to fit your chair under a table, you would probably not be able to with a large seat cushion. This means that when you are going to sit at a table with your chair, you would need to remove the extra cushion to allow your body to be leveled with the table.

Larger footplates can also help taller users to be comfortable when they place their feet. If your feet were large then I would recommend looking into buying a pair of oversized footplates. The only problem with this is that when you pass through a narrow space, such as a doorway, the footrests may get in the way of you getting through that space.